‘It’s like a one in a million chance’: Teen will be the only one in her high school’s graduating class
CAMERON, La. (KPLC/Gray News) - How many students were in your high school graduating class?
It was probably more than South Cameron High School’s graduating class this year because just one student is getting a diploma.
Diana Lopez is a junior at South Cameron High School, but she’ll be graduating Tuesday thanks to dual enrollment.
It will be a memorable and rare graduation, as she will walk alone in the school’s 2025 class.
“It’s like a one in a million chance, and it just really means that I was able to push myself and do everything that I wanted to do, and even more, it just means that I know I’m going to be able to accomplish a lot harder things in the future,” said Lopez.
Her day often consisted of being in her senior classes alone, but she excelled. Lopez has a GPA above 4.0, which means she will graduate summa cum laude.
“It was pretty nice, but kind of bittersweet being in a class all by myself,” said Lopez.
After Hurricane Laura, a lot of students left South Cameron High School.
“The entire class relocated, so that’s when it became a class of none, and so when Diana decided she wanted to graduate early, it was exciting,” said South Cameron High Principal Lindsey Fontenot.
Lopez says she has over $50,000 in scholarship money and will be attending Northwestern State University in the fall as a first-generation college student pursuing her nursing degree.
“That was a lot of my drive for wanting to graduate early, coming from not a very financially stable background. I really wanted to be able to go to college,” said Lopez.
She said it will be difficult getting used to being in a classroom with others in college, but she is ready for the new beginning.
Fontenot said with about 14 juniors enrolled in the school, she expects next year’s graduation class to be bigger.
Even with only one graduate, South Cameron High School will still hold a graduation ceremony, and Lopez will receive her diploma Tuesday.
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